Nap

To coat. When a sauce coats a food, it is said to napper. The correct consistency can be verified by dipping a spoon in the sauce and gauging how long and how thickly the sauce clings to the spoon. Until forty years ago, all sauces were required to nap. The use of sauce spoons now allows the saucier to make thinner and lighter sauces. In modern kitchens, dishes that were originally served on plates with a sauce stiff enough to nap the food are now sometimes served in soup plates, allowing for a light, almost broth-like sauce.